Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves is a 1997 American direct-to-video third sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. It is the last installment in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids trilogy. The directorial debut of cinematographer Dean Cundey and released through Walt Disney Home Video, it tells the story of inventor Wayne Szalinski as he accidentally shrinks himself, his wife, brother, and sister-in-law with his electromagnetic shrink ray. Rick Moranis returns to portray Wayne Szalinski. He is the only returning cast member from the previous films. His wife, Diane, is portrayed by Eve Gordon, and their youngest son, Adam, now a preteen, is played by Bug Hall. Amy and Nick have gone away to college and living their adult lives (as discussed between Diane and Adam in the film). It includes Wayne's extended family, including his brother, Gordon, and sister-in-law, Patti. Unlike the first film, where the kids had to get their parents' attention, it's vice versa. Only a few months after the film was released, the Disney Channel picked up a show based on the Szalinskis' troubles: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. It starred Peter Scolari as Wayne. This was the last incarnation of the franchise; this is also Disney's first live-action film to get a direct-to-video release. As of 2019, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves stands as Moranis' most recent live-action film (though he would continue to do voice-acting for the next several years). Plot Eight years after the events of the previous film, ten-year-old Adam just wants to be a normal boy and go to baseball camp. However, his interest in sports seems almost alien to Wayne and Diane, as Amy and Nick, who are currently living away from home, were a thespian and genius, respectively. Wayne has started his own lab, Szalinski Labs, with his brother, Gordon, and they receive tickets to witness a shuttle landing, but Diane interrupts Wayne's message, reminding him that he needs to watch Adam and his cousins, Jenny and Mitch, while she and Patti go on vacation. She also reminds him to get rid of the Tiki Man that she sees as an eyesore, though he considers it a good luck charm (not to mention something that could earn him a fortune one day). After Diane and Patti leave, Wayne and Gordon have activities planned that bore the kids. Wayne sends them to the store, but reveals to Gordon that it is a ruse to get rid of them long enough so that he can use his shrinking machine in order to shrink the Tiki Man without Diane's knowledge, and without the risk of unintentionally shrinking the kids (although the machine now fires at the push of a button instead of at random like before). However, after carelessly not turning it off immediately after they succeed, Wayne and Gordon are shrunk when a billiard ball left on it falls onto the activating button, just as they are in front of it searching for the Tiki Man. Meanwhile, Patti realizes she forgot to leave Mitch's medicine for his potassium deficiency, and they head back. Hoping to catch Wayne and Gordon by surprise, they sneak up to the attic only to be shrunk when another billiard ball falls onto the activating button. Shortly after, the kids return home, and after hearing Wayne's message about the launch, assume they are alone for the evening, and Jenny makes plans to have her friends come over. Upstairs, the adults make use of a fishing rod to lower themselves down into Adam's room. To attempt to get to the floor, they use his Hot Wheels race track, but they overshoot their target and fall down the laundry chute ending up in a clean load that is delivered back upstairs by Adam and Mitch. They tumble out of the laundry basket when it is overturned, and discover Adam and Mitch reading a Sports Illustrated Kids magazine, revealing to Wayne that Adam's interest is not in science as he hoped. Seeing Mitch struggling, Patti realizes that they need to get him his medicine soon, or he could pass out. He ignores his weaknesses, though, and goes downstairs. The adults witness the arrival of Jenny's friends and decide to use a bubble machine in order to get downstairs. Diane and Patti land safely, but Wayne and Gordon fall into a bowl of onion dip and are nearly devoured by the girls. In the kitchen, when Patti and Diane resolve to find a way up the counter in order to find Mitch's medicine and push it into view, they encounter a daddy long-legs with its leg caught in a spider web, and Diane quietly talks to it as Patti tries to cut the web with a nail file. Diane realizes her own insecurities about being small as she relates to it, which she had earlier tried to kill, and realizes how hard it is to be that size. After it's freed, Patti and Diane realize they can cling to its silk as it climbs up onto the counter. Meanwhile, Wayne and Gordon decide to rewire the stereo to work as a microphone, and a group of boys crashes the party, including Jenny's crush, Ricky King. He takes her into the kitchen, where he steals a kiss from her, but she spurns him for not asking permission first, thus earning Patti's respect. Angered, he returns to his friends and they begin to wreak havoc in the living room. Mitch, severely weakened, enters the kitchen and discovers Patti and Diane on the counter before fainting, partially from his failure to take his medicine, and partially from the shock of seeing his miniature mother and aunt. Adam and Jenny discover him, and thinking quickly, Adam gets potassium-rich bananas to give to him, and he begins to recover, weakly saying he had seen his mother. In the living room, Wayne rewires the stereo so that Gordon can talk and amplify his voice so he can pretend to be the voice of God. He orders the guests to leave, leading Adam, Mitch, and Jenny to realize what had happened to them. In the attic, the kids discuss the benefits of leaving their parents shrunk briefly before deciding they love them more than that. They unshrink them. Patti confides her trust in Jenny for how she stood up to Ricky and took care of Mitch, while Wayne tells Adam that he can have an interest in sports, and agrees to sign him up for baseball camp. Diane tells Wayne he can keep the Tiki Man, and won't sweat the "small" stuff anymore, while he decides to relinquish his presidency of Szalinski Labs to Gordon, while he decides to return to inventing. In the end, life is back to normal again, while Wayne has developed a new respect for baseball, and the Tiki Man has been moved into the backyard and enlarged to twice the height of the house. Cast * Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski * Eve Gordon as Diane Szalinski * Robin Bartlett as Patti "Patty" Szalinski * Allison Mack as Jenny Szalinski * Jake Richardson as Mitchell "Mitch" Szalinski * Stuart Pankin as Gordon Szalinski * Bug Hall as Adam Szalinski * Jojo Adams as Ricky King * Mila Kunis as Jill * Erica Luttrell as Jody * Lisa Wilhoit as Holly * Ashleigh Sterling as Corky * Theodore Borders as Trey * Bryson Aust as Vince * Laura Dunn as Trina